My vision had started to decline in my 30’s. Not a ton but needed glasses for distance vision to be crisp. When I hit 60 I started to operate without my glasses more. It forced my eyes to work more. I just had an eye exam and I can legally drive without glasses. My eyesight improved. It’s not crisp at distance but I can grab my glasses when I feel the need ( use when driving at night for extra layer of safety)

Mid 20s here. Lived like shit until like 2 years ago. Started working out and eating right. In the best shape of my life.... then got diagnosed with an aortic anuerysm cant win

Hah gentle, my vision distance also started degrading slowly but I had no issues otherwise. Text etc. was a bit blurrier but I could still read everything fine, except when it was too close to my eyes.

Then one day I pretty much hit a brick wall and went from 0 to 100% eye strain in about 2-3 days. Now I need constant eye drops, a humidifier, breaks every 20 minutes, time spent doing other things etc. to just be able to do what I did before.

As I'm well past my mid-40s, so 100% :)

The best tech tool I've ever bought was a pair of dedicated computer glasses (focal length ~3ft) --for every computer I work at.

I mean, of course exercise isn't going to fix your vision. But if your vision is going to degrade, you can still choose if you want to live as a fit and healthy person who needs reading glasses, or as a person who has aches all over, is in bad shape, feels tired and like shit all the time, and on top of all that needs reading glasses.

It's so wild that in your 50s you can be more fit and in better health than you were in your 30s. No one ever told me this. My sedentary family bitched and moaned about how they were getting old and their bodies were falling apart every day. I'm so glad I discovered that exercise works in my early 40s. I hear you about injury though. When I get injured now it takes ages to recover. Something that would have gone away in 2 days in my 20s, can take weeks to heal. We're not immortal, but there's so much we can do.

I got a bad of case of tennis elbow recently from over-exerting during a light set of pushups!

The joint stuff you have to think about, where it was barely a consideration when I was younger.

>Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, has almost certainly been "supplementing" for close to 60 years now.

He's admitted it and advised younger bodybuilders not to.

Having access to the best sports medicine doctors in the world means you too can look great at nearly 80.

You are 100% right, I don't see it as a negative though. Almost everyone in their 70's is on some form of medication. I'm mid 40's and have been on testosterone for ~4 years. Best shape of my life both physically and blood work wise. Testosterone (at sane doses), GLP-1s, etc are miracle drugs that dramatically improve ones' quality of life. While you are absolutely correct that "those dudes are almost certainly on some kind of testosterone" I see it as very positive.

My FIL, in his 70's is on a cocktail of pain killers, blood pressure medication and a hundred other things and has a hard time even getting out of a pool. I'll take being an old jacked dude over that any day

Indeed, but I think that the point is that you shouldn't give up and let everything go.

Indeed, but nobody can be quite sure that they will win the lottery and therefore can afford to kick back and do it the easy way. Moderate exercise, eating more of the good stuff, and letting go of some unhealthy habits have big impacts on overall well-being that are hard to describe. Simply put: not sick != healthy

A healthy lifestyle improves outcomes pretty much regardless of genetics. Genetics just determines the ceiling.

Not only that, but in my experience most physical workers drink a lot and eat poorly. Not all, for sure, but it's pretty common at least in Spain. But rest is extremely important.

i knew that day would come :)

For you personally, maybe not, but statistically yes it does.

There are populations that consistently outlive and the only other thing I would add is stress removal in the form of relatively simple life styles.

What are you talking about? Doing these things is the only way to increase your quality of life and healthy lifespan, no amount money nor medicine will make up for abusing your body for decades.

These things are quite literally the leading causes of death and impairments in the west...

It does. Look up Brian Johnson

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These should be lifelong behaviors

Only virgins

Like you I have kids, and it really takes a toll, and I definitely see myself aging in the mirror. But I cannot recommend training enough. I started working out regularly three years ago, after a long hiatus due to kids. And I feel stronger and fitter than ever as I approach 40.

The kids still need lots of care (they are 5–9 years old), so finding time and motivation is still a challenge. For me the trick is to do training I really like. That helps so much with motivation. So, find something you like!

What I happen to like is bouldering and hiking. I have a fixed day of the week for bouldering, just after work, and I never miss it, because I know if I start skipping I might fall off my training habit.

Then the rest of the training is motivated by getting better at what I love. I do pull ups to better my climbing etc…

I will fight hard to keep at it through my 40s, because it is such a quality of life improvement. I also attribute the fact that I haven’t been really sick the last few years to my exercise.

Exercise is not optional.

Go for it!

And try not to be in the majority group of gym goers who pay the membership without attending ;)

Having kids greatly affects the quality and the amount of sleep, and the rest flows from that.

But! There's no shame in napping mid-day, even more than once. Even in the office :)

Similar here.

Looking back at pictures from really not that long ago (less than 5 years) to before kids or the first year of the first kid and one of the overriding comments both me and wife have are "We look so young!". We have two aged 3-to-5, and its been hard but not that hard, especially now that there are no nappies/diapers and they sleep 10-11 hours straight overnight and we pay for gardeners, cleaners etc and pretty much do our usual 9-5 as we did before kids.

FWIW though, I would say that you don't need a gym membership. I try to run/jog/saunter a couple of times a week - its free and easy to do. Getting started is as easy as putting some shoes on and stepping out your door - no set up, no memberships, no travel to get to the place to do the running etc. You don't need to go buy special shoes or anything - just something vaguely appropriate will be fine to get started with for short distances and steady pace.

Its what your body has evolved to do, and I think there is a good mental-health aspect to just going out on your own and running and letting the mind wander. I personally don't especially "enjoy" running, and it is sometimes hard to persuade myself to actually go do it, but once I have started and I am 5-10 minutes in, it's quite nice.

Good luck

Reading the comments on this one, awhile ago, helped me: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32176193

Im 46 now. I had my kids in my early 30's. I gained 30+ pounds over their first 10 years of life. Kids are hard :)

Now that they are older I have more free time. Once they get to the point where they can stay home alone things become much easier. For me that was around when they hit 10. I'm 46 now and in the best shape of my life. Keep pushing through, there is light at the end of the tunnel

Yes they did, and published it all.

Sometimes I can't believe how low discussions on HN can fall. Did really nobody in this thread bother to check this? Are we fine disparaging research solely based on the fact that they used a method that gives bad results with bad inputs (which doesn't?) and their incentives could be misaligned (whose aren't?)?

If there are well justified concerns about the method or data then by all means let's talk about it, but please let's all try to keep low effort anti intellectual conspiracy theories away from here.

I'm turning 40 very soon and feel the same.

People also often tell me I look and seem younger than my age.

But I also prioritize sleeping 8 hours a night. Eating low carb. Regular exercise. Plus I have no kids. :-)